Clarksville Hankook plant to begin hiring

The first job postings go up Friday for a company set to bring 1,800 jobs to Middle Tennessee by 2018. Last year, South Korea-based tire manufacturer, Hankook, announced they were building their first North American plant in Clarksville.

"I'm looking at this as a big deal for Tennessee and a big deal for this region specifically," said Mike Evans of the Industrial Development Board. "That's what these industrial jobs do."

Evans said the area off of Rossview Road in Montgomery County is already cleared for the 469-acre plant, and the hope is to start construction in September.

"Their plan is a majority of their people will be hired from this region," said Evans.

The first jobs going up Friday will be positions in engineering, human resources, and management. The production jobs that will make up most of the workforce will come later.

"With these 1,800 jobs, we're looking at potentially another 1,200 indirect jobs being created because of those jobs," said Evans. "Those will be service industry jobs, commercial and retail. We're seeing a projected payroll to be $60 million plus. With the indirect jobs, we anticipate that being an additional $50 million payroll jobs for this region. We all know payroll jobs drive the economy."

If you're interested in one of those jobs at Hankook, they will be posted Friday at Jobs4TN.gov.

When we asked Governor David Ige if he could beat Colleen Hanabusa in a potential match-up in 2018, he didn't hesitate with this response. "Certainly. I believe that I will be successful for any of those candidates that are considering it," he said. While Ige says he's sure he could win reelection in 2018, he says he doesn't know why powerful democratic forces are looking to defeat him with a candidate like Hanabusa in the primary election next August. "I don't know....

When we asked Governor David Ige if he could beat Colleen Hanabusa in a potential match-up in 2018, he didn't hesitate with this response. "Certainly. I believe that I will be successful for any of those candidates that are considering it," he said. While Ige says he's sure he could win reelection in 2018, he says he doesn't know why powerful democratic forces are looking to defeat him with a candidate like Hanabusa in the primary election next August. "I don't know....